Manchester United and Arsenal made it four out of four English teams in the Champions League quarterfinals on Wednesday after Chelsea and Liverpool had progressed on Tuesday.
In the lead-up to Wednesday’s Champions League action, most of the talk was about Inter Milan and their coach Jose Mourinho’s visit to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson. But at the end of the night, it was Arsenal’s 7–6 penalty kick shoot-out win over AS Roma that was most memorable.
Manchester United recorded a comfortable 2–0 win over Inter Milan on goals from central defender Nemanja Vidic and World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo. United was the better team in Milan two weeks ago and on Wednesday night in Manchester.
“They’re stronger than us…they’re better than us,” said Mourinho after the match. “We didn’t have that little bit of luck to win big matches [today].”
Inter hit the woodwork twice but in the end, they deserved elimination.
In Rome, Arsenal lost in regulation time 1–0 meaning extra time was needed to break the aggregate score of 1–1. A below average Arsenal performance was barely good enough to get to a penalty shoot-out.
Substitute Roma striker (and former Arsenal striker) Julio Baptista had a horrible performance. He missed a sitter in the six-yard box in the 80th minute, which would’ve knocked out the Gunners.
“We were a bit nervous at the start. We gave it [the Roma goal] away because of nerves,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger in an interview with Sky Sports after the match.
“Both teams gave absolutely everything. I pay tribute to the mental strength of my team. Our character has been questioned many times.”
Wenger referred to the difficult position his team faced after Eduardo missed Arsenal’s first penalty kick. But in a bizarre attempt at trickery, Mirko Vucinic’s slow roller of a penalty shot straight down the middle was easily saved.
After the disappointing Vucinic effort, the next 11 penalty kicks all scored before Roma’s Max Tonetto blasted his shot over the net, giving Arsenal the win.
Rounding out Wednesday’s results, Barcelona convincingly beat Lyon 5–2 with two goals from Thierry Henry and a dynamite goal from Lionel Messi, who dribbled through three defenders, played a give-and-go with Samuel Eto’o before sliding a shot past the keeper. FC Porto also made it to the last eight after a scoreless draw with Atletico Madrid. The Portuguese team advanced on the away-goals rule after their 2–2 draw in Madrid two weeks ago.
The quarterfinals draw will be made March 20 and will feature four English teams for the second consecutive year, two Spanish teams (Barcelona and Villarreal), Bayern Munich from Germany, and FC Porto. For the first time in seven years, no Italian teams reached the quarterfinals.
“It is fantastic for English football [soccer],” said Wenger about the four Premier League teams in Europe’s last eight. “England can be proud of that.”
In the lead-up to Wednesday’s Champions League action, most of the talk was about Inter Milan and their coach Jose Mourinho’s visit to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson. But at the end of the night, it was Arsenal’s 7–6 penalty kick shoot-out win over AS Roma that was most memorable.
Manchester United recorded a comfortable 2–0 win over Inter Milan on goals from central defender Nemanja Vidic and World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo. United was the better team in Milan two weeks ago and on Wednesday night in Manchester.
“They’re stronger than us…they’re better than us,” said Mourinho after the match. “We didn’t have that little bit of luck to win big matches [today].”
Inter hit the woodwork twice but in the end, they deserved elimination.
In Rome, Arsenal lost in regulation time 1–0 meaning extra time was needed to break the aggregate score of 1–1. A below average Arsenal performance was barely good enough to get to a penalty shoot-out.
Substitute Roma striker (and former Arsenal striker) Julio Baptista had a horrible performance. He missed a sitter in the six-yard box in the 80th minute, which would’ve knocked out the Gunners.
“We were a bit nervous at the start. We gave it [the Roma goal] away because of nerves,” said Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger in an interview with Sky Sports after the match.
“Both teams gave absolutely everything. I pay tribute to the mental strength of my team. Our character has been questioned many times.”
Wenger referred to the difficult position his team faced after Eduardo missed Arsenal’s first penalty kick. But in a bizarre attempt at trickery, Mirko Vucinic’s slow roller of a penalty shot straight down the middle was easily saved.
After the disappointing Vucinic effort, the next 11 penalty kicks all scored before Roma’s Max Tonetto blasted his shot over the net, giving Arsenal the win.
Rounding out Wednesday’s results, Barcelona convincingly beat Lyon 5–2 with two goals from Thierry Henry and a dynamite goal from Lionel Messi, who dribbled through three defenders, played a give-and-go with Samuel Eto’o before sliding a shot past the keeper. FC Porto also made it to the last eight after a scoreless draw with Atletico Madrid. The Portuguese team advanced on the away-goals rule after their 2–2 draw in Madrid two weeks ago.
The quarterfinals draw will be made March 20 and will feature four English teams for the second consecutive year, two Spanish teams (Barcelona and Villarreal), Bayern Munich from Germany, and FC Porto. For the first time in seven years, no Italian teams reached the quarterfinals.
“It is fantastic for English football [soccer],” said Wenger about the four Premier League teams in Europe’s last eight. “England can be proud of that.”
